What the Trump and Cosby Allegations Reveal About Rape Culture
There’s this myth that lingers in American society that rape is just a matter of men getting a little too excited about sex and forgetting to get consent first. Many people still talk about rape like it’s a thing men do by accident, perhaps because they were confused. Or they blame “hook-up culture” for rape, suggesting that the overabundance of lust in the world is the problem, rather than men deliberately choosing to have sex with women who are unwilling or unable to consent.
But the stories of these alleged rapes by Donald Trump and Bill Cosby paint a very different picture. They remind us that there are men in this world who know exactly what they’re doing – men who rape not because they were just really horny that day and lost control, but because they enjoy overpowering women.
It’s also easy to see how rape fits into a larger overall pattern of male entitlement with regards to women. Because while the rape allegations against these two men remain unproven in a court of law, what is undeniable is that they’ve both been complete asshats to women in a general sense.
In a 2005 deposition Cosby gave to defend himself against allegations of sexual abuse, he comes across – unwittingly or not – as an arrogant sexist who thinks of women as toys to be played with rather than autonomous people. It’s not just his sexual exploits, which even by his own account seem largely predicated on trying to get reluctant women into bed – he also routinely expresses contempt for women’s ability to make their own choices about things like career and education.
Maybe these rape allegations, as hard as they are to hear about, will serve as a wake-up call, helping Americans realize that rape isn’t a result of excessive lust or a too-casual sexual environment. It’s the result of male entitlement, plain and simple.